CONTRACT FOOD SERVICE MANAGEMENT
Maintaining Control of Multi-Hospital
Food Management
CONTRACT MANAGED
SNAPSHOT
RESPONSIBILITIES
Improve efficiency in food service
Provide assistance and expertise with large projects
PAIN POINTS SOLVED
Restraints on operational control
Difficulty transitioning between different third-party services
COMPUTRITION HELPS YOU
Retain visibility and control of your data
Ensure consistency across all departments and sites
RESPONSIBILITIES
Improve efficiency in food service
Provide assistance and expertise with large projects
PAIN POINTS SOLVED
Restraints on operational control
Difficulty transitioning between different third-party services
COMPUTRITION
HELPS YOU
Retain visibility and control of your data
Ensure consistency across all departments and sites
tHE gREAT dEBATE
Food service operations are well aware of the great debate: “contract food service management or self-operation?”
With the constant need to optimize efficiency and reduce costs, many hospitals view contract management as their only option.
Food service operations are well aware of the great debate:
“contract food service management or self-operation?”
With the constant need to optimize efficiency and reduce costs,
many hospitals view contract management as their only option.
Why Go Contract Managed?
There are, in fact, several benefits when it comes to contract management. For instance, these companies feature long-term growth opportunities and offer individuals a platform to kickstart their food service careers. Additionally, they provide purchasing power and highly skilled staff for large projects that the facilities may not have the expertise or capital to fund, such as renovating new kitchens or implementing a room service program.
Loss of Autonomy = Loss of Data
There are also aspects of contract food service management that are less than ideal for hospitals. Departments must be especially mindful of the loss of operational control; hospitals typically lose autonomy and ownership of data when contract management companies implement their preferred food service software solutions. Consequently, valuable historical information – which is necessary for assessing costs, reallocating funds, and benchmarking performance achievements – can disappear if a hospital decides to stop using third-party services.
Not to mention the fact that these companies usually offer just ninety days for departments to transition to a new system upon canceling, which can strain staff time (IT in particular), increase the possibility of patient errors, and add additional costs from installing new hardware/licenses. When it comes to multi-hospital food management, implementation poses an even bigger challenge due to the various locations and processes.
sTANDARDIZING PROCESSES
The need to standardize software across sites is crucial, particularly in healthcare food service. Think of all the different aspects of such an operation: maintaining inventory, selecting meals, tracking trays, replenishing retail items – the list goes on. To maximize efficiency from the start, you need to make data-driven decisions; the best way to accomplish this is with information collected over time, from all sites, maintained in one accessible system. Moreover, having consistency across all sites can lead to enhanced food service quality and improved use of staff time by eliminating redundant tasks, inconsistent data entries, and possible interface issues between disparate systems.
What can organizations do?
Understand that you can implement your choice of automation and still partner with a contract food service management company, which means food service departments aren’t restricted to specific vendors. As a result of using your own software, there is more flexibility to switch companies or become self-operated, thereby allowing decision-making based on patient needs and their best interest. After all, the ultimate goal of healthcare food service operations will always be to provide patients with nourishment and care in their time of need, no matter how the industry changes. Choose a software solution that supports that goal!
